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“Azerbaijan should urgently to find the solution to the problems related to the freedom of assembly, expression and judicial independence”, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Ms. Anne Brasseur said at the meeting of the Standing Committee in Baku, APA reports.
Brasseur said that she will try to meet with the arrested Ilgar Mammadov: “The European Court passed a judgment on Ilgar Mammadov. The judges came to the conclusion that the decision on his arrest is unfair. I hope that this will cause his release. I hope that the authorities will try to solve the abovementioned problems”.
Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ogtay Asadov said that the President of the PACE began her speech with attack and expressed his displeasure.
Saying that Azerbaijan is struggling against corruption, Asadov expressed his hope for the PACE’s support for the reforms in Azerbaijan.
He said that Baku will host eighteen events during the Azerbaijani Chairmanship of the CoE Committee of Ministers: “Azerbaijan proves commitment to the European values by taking real steps. It takes considered measures for conducting necessary reforms. Azerbaijan has always respected its commitments to PACE”, he said.
The Speaker noted that the PACE should approach carefully to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, the problems of the refugees and internally displaced persons: “Armenia occupied Nagorno Karabakh and 7 surrounding regions. 20 years activity of the OSCE Minsk Group hasn’t yielded any results. However, no sanctions are imposed on Armenia. Therefore, the persons who visit our regions occupied through Armenia are declared “persona non grata”. As Rene Ruke was failed to be granted a visa, the PACE Bureau decided not to hold PACE committees’ meetings in Baku. This decision is still under process. I hope that PACE will understand Azerbaijan’s principal position”, he said.
Apa.az
